Palace Of Flames
by JustJetteJuliette
Summary: After he finds out he's the prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko and his best friend Sokka travel across the world to the capital of the Fire Nation to reclaim his throne.


**Hello, people who hopefully still love me!**

**Welcome to the rewrite of Palace of Flames, or POOF as I like to call it. I love my ideas for POOF, I found my old notebook & fell back in love with it, but the writing here sucks. It looks like something I did in eighth grade. Now that I am a working girl, with a couple years of slightly challenging advanced English courses (The Crucible for sophmore Honors? I don't _think_ so.) I feel that I can do much better.**

**So as of right now, I have been rejected from Varsity show choir, and I don't think I'll be returning to the world of JV & crew like I've done for the past year. (And some dance team chick gets my spot.) I have no boyfriend and no social life, so I can write all day, everyday, unless I'm making pizzas at work.**

**Well, actually, my mother has forbidden me from using the computer for more than two hours a day. so the other twenty two you will find me in a corner, crying my eyes out.**

**I love you, FanFiction. I've missed you. _(I am done with my ramble.)_**

* * *

When we talk about our pasts, our story starts twelve years ago, the month we both came to North Caping Town. I came with my Uncle; who has never divulged the reasons behind our move from the Fire Nation mainland to the colonies. Sokka came on a Fire Nation ship. No one knew where the ship had come from. They came into port only long enough to bring him ashore and hand him over to the first person to care why they had a three year old boy with them.

Sokka had no memories. He knew him own name, but had no knowledge of where he came from. There were speculations; his dark skin and blue eyes gave away his at least partial relationship to the Water Tribes; though it was unclear why a Water Tribe boy would have been taken aboard a ship in the first place, as there were no known raids on the Northern Tribe and the tribes dotting the Earth Kingdom. His origins remained a mystery.

Uncle and I came a couple weeks later; in steerage on a small passenger boat. We were dressed poorly and had few possessions, but Uncle had no trouble purchasing a house, which turned out to be next door to the person who would become my best friend. Uncle employed himself as a tea maker in town, though he always seemed to be able to afford things that his modest salary should not allow. I was four when we arrived.

I don't remember my parents. I don't remember where I lived before Uncle took me to the colonies. Uncle refused to tell me about my parents, his brother and his wife. I always assumed that my parents had died and Uncle moved us here because remembering them was too painful. He never challenged that assumption.

Sokka didn't have anyone to tell him this stuff. Which is worse, no one knowing who you are, or having someone whose lied about it your entire life?

* * *

"ZUKO! Get up! The fish are waiting!"

My eyes flew open as Sokka, my best friend in the entire world, pounded on the door to my bedroom. The thin, slated door did nothing to muffle the sound of Sokka's voice. He continued to pound until I ran over and yanked the door open. Sokka stood there, looking bored, with his fist still raised midair. Blue eyes met gold for a brief second, then I turned away and went straight to the chest of drawers that contained my few possessions. Sokka went downstairs, presumibly to steal food. I rolled my eyes and dressed for the day.

After I had dressed and grabbed my fishing pole, I jogged out into the narrow hallway. The second floor of our house had two rooms; mine and Uncle's, and they were situated on the Western side of the house, both opening up onto the cramped hallway. My room was closest to the rickety stairway, which creaked almost frighteningly under my weight.

Down in the kitchen/living room that made up our first floor, Sokka had stolen a scone and was munching happily as he waited. Uncle was baking, like he always did in the morning.

"Took long enough? I could have caught fifty fish by now! Let's go." Sokka grabbed a banana and pranced out. He was already dressed in his peasant-style red shirt and black pants, with no shoes. Sokka hates wearing shoes, which irritates his mam, but he doesn't really care.

I wanted to ask him how he could catch fifty fish in the time it took me to change my pants when he usually had to sit there all day to catch one, but I bit my tongue. Uncle tossed me a scone as I ran out after my friend.

* * *

"So did you read The Black Dragon yesterday?" Sokka asked me as we made our way down the hill where we lived. The lake sat at the bottom of the hill, and you could see the green waters sparkle over the grove of trees that surrounded it.

"Not yet. My Uncle is going to buy it today." The Black Dragon was the monthly newspaper that our colony recieved from the mainland. A lot of it was just war news and articles explaining the many reasons why we still occupy the Earth Kingdom, though sometimes there were gossip items that Uncle seemed especially interested in.

"There was a big article on the missing Fire Prince." Sokka threw his head back and laughed. I smiled and shook my head. The Fire Prince had disappeared years ago without a trace; but his absence had become nothing more than another reason to keep attacking. The basic story always stayed the same; the Fire Prince was kidnapped by our enemies. Various speculations had been made; that he was being held hostage and had been secretly forcing the royal family to do their bidding. Captors included the Dai Li of Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom Army, and pretty much whoever they felt like they needed a justified reason for attacking. A few months ago, the claimed that they had proof the Northern Water Tribe held the Fire Prince captive, while everyone knew they attacked because they knew the Avatar was there.

Everyone in my village thinks the Fire Prince is dead. Even if the rags told the truth and terrorists had broken into the palace, why wouldn't they kill a four year old with little firebending training? But the probability of enemies getting into the palace was slim. The Fire Prince was probably dead from an accident or something similar that the royal family just wanted to keep hushed up.

"So, who is keeping him captive now?"

"They think he was told he was born in the Earth Kingdom and is now a part of the Earth Kingdom Army." We both laughed. The idea was too ridiculous to even consider.

We chatted a bit more on the walk down, but we were silent once we started fishing. We saw some women coming out to wash clothing on the adjacent side of the lake, but they left by midmorning. By noon the sun was high and hot and we were sweaty. We had a bucket of fish caught, so we figured it was a good time to stop.

Sokka and I both peeled off our shirts and dove in. The water was clean and cool; refreshing on a summer day. I rose to the surface and swam to the shore to put my shirt back on. I soaked Sokka's shirt in the water and threw it at his face when he came out of the water. He responded by tackling me and pushing my face into the dirt.

"Hey! You kids!" I heard a man yell and three firebending soldiers broke into the clearing. Sokka got off me and went to grab our fish. I stood up and wiped my dirty palms on my pants. Fire Nation soldiers didn't venture very far inland normally, but we lived fairly close to a port city, so it wasn't that unusual to see them. So I wasn't very concerned when I saw them.

I was when they made a grab for Sokka.

One of the soldiers pinned his arm behind his back, another came at him in the front with a knife drawn. Sokka punched him square in the face with his free arm, and he fell over backwards. The third soldier started running at me, and I had only seconds to react. I let loose a flurry of flames at his feet, which he lept back from.

The soldier restraining Sokka let go once he saw me firebend. Sokka grabbed his club and slammed it over his head. He made a break for it; and we both ran until we had passed the Kaede family's house; at the very edge of our neighborhood. I bent over; out of breath.

"Sokka? Where is your shirt? And why are you all wet?" I looked up. Sokka's mam was in their front yard, a couple houses away. She was picking fireberries from the bush that grew feet from their front door. Sokka rolled his eyes and walked over to his mam, which I took as a sign I could go home.

* * *

Every morning, Uncle takes our cow, Jasmine, down to the pasture to graze. It's my job to go down and get her every night and bring her back to her 'barn', which is really just a shed built onto our house. So, today, like any other day, I ran down to the pasture and got Jasmine after I finished the many chores that make up my day.

Like everyday, I met Sokka down at the bottom of the path.

"So," He said, as a way of greeting me. "Have you told your Uncle what happened this morning?" Sokka's eyes were bright with innocence. I sighed.

"No. Not yet. I don't know if I should worry him." I pushed my hair back from my face. I was still concerned about our attack; but there was still a strong possibility that it was just a mistake. I saw no reason to worry him unless I knew for sure there was something wrong.

"Well, I haven't told my mam, so maybe we should just not worry about it." Sokka looked relieved to not have to deal with it. It felt like a giant load had lifted from my shoulders as well.

Maybe Sokka was right. Maybe we should just forget about it.

* * *

I couldn't sleep that night. I lay awake in bed for over an hour before going downstairs. My Uncle was still up, reading the newspaper and sipping tea. He seemed surprised to see me, but poured me a cup of tea wordlessly.

"Something is on your mind, my nephew. Tell your old Uncle about it." Uncle smiled and leaned forward on his elbows. I knew he expected me to start blabbing away about Sokka or the pretty girls in town, but I just didn't feel up to lying tonight.

"It's complicated." I turned my face away so he couldn't read anything from my face. Uncle reached out and touched my arm.

"When you've lived as long as I have, you've developed a good sense of what goes on it the world. There isn't much that can shock me now." Uncle smiled. I started to think I could trust him.

"Sokka and I were attacked by a group of firebenders today."

"What?"

Uncle jumped up from the table and started pacing, his hands behind his back. He kept shaking his head and mumbling to himself.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sure they were just confused. I'll go back to bed now." I got up and turned towards the stairs, but Uncle grabbed my arm and forced me back into my chair.

"I've known you've been old enough to know for a long time." His voice had returned to normal volume, but his face was grim as he sat back down. "I knew you had a right to know, but part of me thought you would be happier, and _much_ safer without knowing. I started to think, 'he doesn't_ ever_ have to know.'" He shook his head. "But the time has come. It is time you found out, not only for your safety, but because it is your right, and spirits save my soul for trying to keep it from you."

Uncle took a sip of tea. I waited silently, not out of respect, but out of shock.

"You know that the Fire Prince was 'kidnapped' a few years ago." Uncle said, placing mocking emphasis on the word 'kidnapped.' "Many Fire Nation people believe him to be dead, or a prisoner of our enemies."

"Of course I do. Everyone does. What does this have to do with me?" Uncle sighed. He reached across the table and put his hands over mine. He looked at me squarely in the eye.

"That's you, Prince Zuko. I kidnapped you when you were a toddler. You're the missing prince of the Fire Nation."

* * *

**Soooo hopefully that was better than my original draft.**

**Anyone whose bored can go to my joint account with the lurvly tophrocker (MissyJetteProductions) and read our crazy stories. 'The Rant' (Which is basicly us ranting about Avatar with Sid the Sloth and Hallroo) And 'Hallroo's Spectacular DreamLife.' Hallroo is the fail child Haru from the movie. (The Korean (Not Chinese) actor who plays him is awesome. But Haru is a mustached hero. Not a child.) **

**Reviews would be VERY appreciated. And will be rewarded with cupcakes in the shape of dolphins! **


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